Second Career Innings After a Break For Domestic Reasons

Career oriented female class in India usually tend to take a break for domestic reasons and it is not quite easy for these folk to make a smoother transition back into their professions. The motherhood vs manager conflict case of every Indian married lady is a typical scene in every household and can be very much daunting. Hundreds of young ladies working find that maternity and marriage come with very much difficult choices. If career is chosen, there is a constant guilt of ignoring the child and if they choose household, getting back into the main career stream is a challenge after a good three-four years break. The career moves on without the lady. There have been many initiatives from big corporate groups like Tatas which provide women education through Tata Second Career Internship programme, specifically designed for ladies who take a break for domestic reasons. These initiatives accommodates the career oriented ladies looking for second stint.

The Government is also doing its bit for women empowerment in India through various missions launched in 2010 aiming at strengthening and promoting the development of ladies in all sectors- Poorna Shakti is one such initiative. Even then, awareness amongst the females is very much important and should be the main concern, when launching an initiative. Though targeted at focused ladies’ group, dissemination of information is very poor in Indian contexts. Women education has long been ignored and so was encouraging them to pursue career after maternity leave. However, the break becomes permanent unless the lady keeps herself abreast of the happenings in her field. Keeping self-updated is very much important in the current competitive environment to make a comeback. Companies are also encouraging dynamic people who take a break from career and have aligned their HR policies to accommodate the work life balance of fairer gender. The crux being that policies are not crooned into the old (but helpful) thought processes of flexible working hours but includes office creches, an initiative pioneered by Xerox. The underlying fact is to reclaim the talent and help them move back into career. Her profile is not changed- example an IT professional is given a lesser demanding IT role but not pushed into marginal role to hurt her sentiments. These women empowerment in India initiatives bust the myth that ladies do not concentrate on career after a break, a change which the ladies themselves have to adapt for self.